George Lucas Talks ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ Directors

Since last week’s announcement that Disney had acquired Lucasfilm for $4 billion, news has been coming out quickly on the development of Star Wars: Episode 7. Just today, StarWars.com confirmed that Academy Award-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt was scripting the film. Now the conversation has turned to possible directors for the highly-anticipated film.

Some of the names that have already been tossed around as candidates for the coveted position include Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) and Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class). Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, and Brad Bird are a few other names that fans have suggested (though Spielberg recently shot down the idea).

While nothing has been made official yet, George Lucas and new president of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy recently discussed what they’d like to see in a director. Check out the video (via StarWars.com) at the top of the page.

Here’s a short summary of Kennedy’s key quotes:

“There’s a whole generation of filmmakers that have been inspired by George and ‘Star Wars’ and they’re absolutely thrilled, excited, and daunted at the prospect of being able to step in and carry the mantle of making these movies… I think we have a unique opportunity to go after some really incredible people. It’s not going to be people who don’t already have some affinity for ‘Star Wars’ probably. It’s going to be somebody who appreciates what ‘Star Wars’ meant to them and is excited to dive in and be a part of this.”

There are hundreds of directors that would kill for the chance to leave their imprint on such an iconic franchise. But, as Kennedy explained, it’s also a hugely daunting challenge – not to mention a big risk for Disney. Whomever they entrust to take over this franchise needs to have a bold vision that is also appealing to the broadest possible audience.

We’ll be keeping an eye on the possible directorial candidates as they emerge, but in the meantime, share your favorite directorial candidate with us in the comments.

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I think a director should just coach the actors. The shots should be planned by ILM, for consistency. Most importantly, they should pay John Williams more money than they ever have before to bring him back for all three films. I don’t want to hear a passing of the torch on the music. That never works out with Williams.

Actually, while Superman Returns was a near-total abortion, John Ottman’s score was a beautifully crafted Williams-honouring piece, and just as beautifully performed. It was the one thing worth actually going to see it for. Well, that and Parker Posey.

You Ignur are NOT,I repeat ARE NOT a Star Wars fan AT ALL,you are a hater in every sense of the word,what happened to you man?Did Lucas pass up when you asked for an autograph or something,all you do is troll this site(and others I suspect)hating on the creator and guiding light of Star Wars and even though he sold Lucasfilm you can bet that NOBODY at Disney is gonna kick George Lucas out any meeting about Star Wars or ignore any suggestion about the direction of The Saga he may have because don’t ever forget sir GEORGE LUCAS CREATED STAR WARS and nothing will ever change.

GEORGE LUCAS CREATED STAR WARS and nothing will ever change that.EVER.GOD BLESS GEORGE LUCAS for all he has given the movie going public in particular and to pop culture in general,he is truly one the greats that we should appreciate now while he’s still with us,not after he’s dead and gone.

Matthew Vaughn Brad Bird Neill Blomkamp Top of my list would be Bird but it’s starting to look like the project he’s been working on is the real deal. Vaughn would be 2nd but I just don’t know if Disney will be willing to give the job to a guy who’s now more known for walking off projects rather than directing them. Which leaves Blomkamp. District 9 was amazing and he’s the type of guy who’s good enough and still young enough so he can’t demand all the control other directors will want. People need to accept Jackson, Weedon and Cameron are not going to do it. They are all busy with other projects. And Nolan is a very very long shot. In other words it won’t happen. I love the guys work but he’s just not a good fit. Same for Fincher. He’s my favorite director working today but he’s not the right guy for the job…

I’m going to have to second that idea. I think Neill Blomkamp would be a fantastic choice for a director here. He has already established his ability to work wonders with a small budget on District 9 and the live-action halo shorts (NOT Forward Unto Dawn) and Elysium sounds awesome. Coupled with his creative talents in writing and visual effects he would be a superb choice for Star Wars. Though his list of previous works isn’t that extensive, his visions are imaginative and new, which is what the Star Wars franchise needs. Besides, he seems to enjoy working on sci-fi like projects.

Bad Baird would be an awsome choice, given his M:I 4 was the best in the series. Robert Rodriguez would be an original and ballsy choice. He’s got experience in sci fi kids movies and also makes awsome action pieces in his adult ultraviolent films. If Rodriguez can blend in both sets of experiences, he would be an excellent choice for the new Star War trilogy.

My vote would be for Joss Whedon. He has the visionary element of fantasy and the background incite in order to carry on the tradition of Star Wars without destroying it’s legacy. But let me also say, that legacy may have already been lost being that Disney has already contracted Michael Arndt write the screen play who has no background with Star Wars or Sci-Fi. Meaning they just pick some any-ol-body to write the screen play. What a total turn off.

How about Guillermo del Toro This is my dream “Star Wars” director. The ingenious maker of “Pan’s Labyrinth” and the “Hellboy” movies has a visual style that’s so wonderfully weird and inspired it would be wondrous to watch sadly he is so busy but just imagine it.

Two points. Firstly, I would not be daunted at all to be the director, other than the fear that the studio would meddle with the project. I don’t think that it’s a mystery what makes a good Star Wars film. Just do it!

Secondly, how is this a risk for Disney? Doesn’t Star Wars content, regardless of its alleged quality or critical reception, always make tons of money? Granted, that is certainly not what matters the most to me as a fan – I want to see something truly great – but Star Wars is such a hugely popular and surefire property that Disney is not in my opinion taking much of any true risk here. The question is not if, but how much.

I think the discerning filmgoers, having been blessed with some great comic adaptations in the last few years and great films in general, it would be fair to say that their movie-going money would be better spent on the best film out. Just because something is Star Wars doesn’t guarantee that in the same way it did in 1999, and in ’02 and ’05, people were genuinely hoping the series would improve. I think it didn’t; 3 was just better than 2, but 1 was better than both.

The scepticism of the prequel trilogy will also continue to haunt people’s expectations. Having said that, The Avengers and the other Marvel/Disney properties have shown that Disney’s interest in messing with storylines in times gone by seems to have evaporated in favour of letting filmmakers do what they do best and create damn good, crowd and critic pleasing films that are supported strongly by a HANDSOME return on investment. The consensu was that The Dark Knight Rises would best The Avengers in seats and dollars, but it didn’t. It’s possibly the better of the two films, but the consensus was that The Avengers knocked it out of the park, and that, I believe, is largely built on Disney’s newfound faith in their cretive teams and a willingness to cease micromanaging their productions.

I just wish they’d taken this approach with the prequels; hired an outside writer and director with George Lucas serving merely as creative consultant… and although I don’t believe they were strictly necessary, they were at least, in theory, the other half of the story, and a potentially very compelling one at that – a good and noble man’s descent into evil against the backdrop of a galactic war and the usurpation of a democracy by a genocidal dictatorship – it’s just a pity that George Lucas so royally botched it, it could have been the trilogy to end all trilogies…

But these new ones are neither necessary nor justified, they are completely commerce-driven and are telling a story that properly ended with ‘Return of the Jedi’… Lucas has spent the last 15 years telling everyone there would be no Episodes VII-IX, that he never had a story for them, and that the story ended with VI, and now he sells his company to a conglomerate, pockets $4bn in the process, and then says there’s going to be a VII-IX after all!

We all know Disney is not going to take a risk on these new films, they’ll likely be focus-grouped and demographic-studied to death before they get anywhere near production, and although they may well end up being great films, I just can’t shake off the rather sour taste it’s leaving, the original Trilogy were one man’s vision, not a committee, and he took chances on them that few studios would have, resulting in a Trilogy that changed films forever, these new ones will be so risk-averse and free of any potentially challenging content that they might as well be McDonald’s Happy Meals, they’ll not be movies, they’ll be products to sell, merchandise, and make a ton of money off… and THAT is the sole motivation for their very existence, it’s sad to say.

Your way off base, there has always been rumblings of when the original trilogy was being made of an episode 7-9. Lucas just got lazy and didn’t want to think up anything new and fresh so he went backwards and did 1-3 which already had its ending completed.

In any case, I’m perfectly fine with over-franchised movies, so long as the script, acting, and direction is good. Just look at 007; the franchise has passed 50 years and Skyfall is one of its best movies to date.

Ed, George Lucas has been remarkably inconsistent over the years; he said throughout the 1980’s there would be a sequel trilogy, then between 1997 and at least 2008 he said there would be NO sequel trilogy, because he had no stories written for them and the story ended in VI… I could say it’s only in the last couple years he changed his mind, but Lucas has been changing his mind constantly over the years!

Brian, the ‘Star Wars’ films are different than the James Bond ones; the ‘Star Wars’ films are supposedly one big ongoing episodic saga, whereas the 007 films are (with one exception) completely self-contained storylines. And if you’re fine with endless ‘Transformers’ or ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films, fine and dandy, I just believe cinema could and should be more than just money-making cash machines made like they were coming off a production line… and these new ‘Star Wars’ films reek of it!

To put it bluntly, George Lucas has spent the last 15 years stating the ‘Star Wars’ story ended in ‘Return of the Jedi’, but he suddenly discovers the need for a sequel trilogy conveniently just as he’s about to sell his company and all it’s subsidiaries to a massive entertainment conglomerate in a multi-billion-dollar deal… funny that!

To be fair to the money-making side of things, I believe that the Star Wars Blu-rays and DVDs would have had less sales impact had he admitted sooner that there were intentions to expand the series. I would argue possibly only 70-80% of the DVD and Blu-ray sales would have resulted had he said “Oh yeah, we probably will make them, and we have Lucasfilm on the market, so if the buyer wants to do it, sure, I’m in for it.”

The thing about George Lucas is that while he has had some visionary creative moments that have waxed and waned throughout his career, he has always, unwaveringly, possessed a particularly strong business acumen, which is not prevalent in many of the filmmakers in Hollywood. Kudos to him, I say.

As an aside, to all of those who say that only Lucas should write the stories, his input in stories has always been great, but others have sharpened it much better than he has. Stan Lee is no exception in that way, too.